Guilfordbeekeepers.org

Last Friday, I received a call from Blandwood (the historic home of Governor John Motley Morehead located in downtown Greensboro) asking for help with honey bees in an old tree located near a walk way. After a quick couple of calls to Wally I began the trapout process.

The opening in the tree was about 1 foot by 1 inch




Wally instructed me to use caulk to reduce the opening to 2 inches



I placed the cone over the opening



As the bees left the tree, they could not return as the cone began functioning



The trapout began that afternoon



The bees and I enjoy this most historic setting



Hopefully, all will go well and I will do us proud and will not do too much harm to the bees in the process.

I love a good trap-out story

The rest of the story--

A Look in the hive



The Cone is removed



The Opening is sealed



Ready for transport



At their new home

I'm beginning the 2nd trapout at this tree. Over winter, someone pulled some of the caulk out of the tree, and given the swarm season we have had (are having), new tenants moved in.

The second trapout is going well except for one small detail. The hive has failed to make a queen. They have put up considerable amounts of honey, but there is not an egg to be seen. I went into one of my strongest hives this afternoon and took out a frame of eggs and larvae and a frame of capped brood and put them in the hive at Blandwood. This should give the hive a good boost of young bees and new queen material. If they make a queen this time, great. If not, I just hived a small swarm (a swarm in July is not worth a fly) that appears to have a newly mated queen. I would not mind doing a newspaper combination with the Blandwood bees if she turns out to be a good layer. Her abdomen is more black than gold and still fairly thin, but she is shiny and her wings look new and she is laying a nice pattern of eggs at this point.

I had a new experience yesterday at about 5:00 p.m. I watched a queen land on the front of the hive box and walk into the hive. I have been watching the trapout closely for the last 2 days. No bees have been in or have come out of the cone, or tried to get into the tree. It's getting close to time to wrap up this project. I have been seeing foragers bringing in decent amounts of pollen into the hive yesterday and the day before.

I plan on leaving the hive in place about a week in the hopes that the new queen will settle in and begin laying. I used the date I placed the second round of eggs and larvae into the hive as the grafting date, and plugged that date into the queen rearing calendar I linked in the news and information section of our forum. The date matched for yesterday being a mating flight day.

Rob,
You saw the queen return from a mating flight and enter the hive.
How cool is that, great timing.
What time of the day did she return?

She landed about 4:50 p.m.

That is so neat

I removed the cone on the tree at about 12:30 p.m. this afternoon and sealed up the opening. If it is not pouring I will go back at about 8:00 p.m. tonight and bring the hive home. Foragers are bringing in pollen so I am hopeful that the queen I saw walk in about 12 days ago is mated and functioning. I will evaluate that situation after I get the hive home. If readings from the laser thermometer are correct, there may be brood on 1 or 2 of the 10 frames.

I brought the hive home this evening (Monday) at about 8:15 p.m. I plan to do a quick evaluation of the hive tomorrow morning before work. I am hoping to see eggs and or larvae in this 10 frame medium of bees. If it's queenright, great. If it's not, I have a couple of nucs of July swarms that are small but have functioning queens. I'll combine them if necessary.

Trapout completed!

Congrats!